The 50’s and 60’s: Two Decades to Remember

By: Ayliffe Allen, Darian Guile, Joe Larson, David Lavenda, Alex Lawrence

4/27/2014

The routes that the freedom riders took

Freedom Riders

In 1961 the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized the Freedom Rides after the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in interstate transportation was illegal. The Freedom Rides is a civil rights protest when whites and blacks rode buses together in 1961. They did this to test if the south was complying with the Supreme Court ruling against segregation on the interstate transportation.

On May 4th 1961 seven blacks and six whites got on two busses in Washington D.C. They were headed to the southern states to test the south and how they were reacting to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the interstate transportation issue. When the Freedom Riders first arrived in Anniston, Alabama on May 14th they discovered that there was a problem.

1

The burning bus from the fire bomb

Before they reached Anniston the ride wasn’t too bad but there were some bumps in the rode. In Charlotte, North Carolina one person was arrested and thrown in jail. In Winnsboro, South Carolina two people were arrested and were released shortly after. The only other major violent problem was in Rock Hill, South Carolina the Next Major problem was in Anniston.

In Anniston, Alabama the mob was brutal to the bus and its passengers, the mob threw a fire bomb in trough one of the bus windows while there were the people still inside. When the passengers tried to flee the bus thee mob attacked the. The passengers were brutally beaten both the blacks and the whites. As the bus tried to leave the mob was still chasing it out of there town.

2

The blacks and whites that were to ride to the south to see how the south was doing with the ruling

The C.O.R.E abandoned the Freedom Riders but the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) continued the Freedom Riders. This time the attorney General Robert Kennedy sent Federal Marshals to ensure a safe passage for the Freedom Riders to Jackson, Mississippi. However when they got to Jackson the Jackson officials arrested the Freedom Riders.

In jail they suffered beating, and when they got out of jail most of them became even more committed to ending segregation, In late 1962 the Interstate Commence Commission issued very clear rules stating that the busses and the bus station involved in interstate travel from then on would be officially segregated. Even though the C.O.R.E abandoned the Freedom Rider project the C.O.R.E’s leader James Farmer proclaimed the victory for the Freedom Riders.

3

The nine teens had to escorted to the school and be kept safe by some military gards

Nine teens integrate central high school

These are the first 9 African American students to go to a previously all white school. They are entering Little Rock High School in Arkansas, 1957. They are escorted by soldiers to protect them from the angry rioters who may have attempted to hurt them. They were later known at the Little Rock Nine. Some people amongst the rioters were trying to help shield the students from harm that would’ve came from the rioters. The mob surrounded the school for days trying to stop the desegregation. On September 4th, 1957 the students were supposed to start at the all-white high school, but Governor Faubus sent the Arkansas Cost Guard to stand in front of the schools entrance to try to force them to stay out. They didn't return until September 23rd, 1957 to actually begin their classes.

4

Rosa Parks’ mug shot

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus incident

In the 50s Montgomery busses were segregated throughout the south. The blacks had to give up their seats for whites and cram in the back, if there were whites that needed the room in the back the blacks would have to get off the bus. One woman was fed up with it and was going to find out when she was not going to give up her seat.

On December 1st, 1995 a 43 year old women with the name Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white passenger. She was arrested and fined for violating a city ordinance. Parks was a seamstress that was involved in the Alabama chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A few years later Rosa Parks described her reasoning for staying in her seat on the bus and not giving it up as: “This is what I wanted to know: when and how would we ever determine our rights as human beings?”

5

A plaque saying what happened on this bus stop and the history of it

A group of African American ministers decided that they would hold a one day boycott. At church that Sunday they announced the boycott to everyone in the church. 4 days later on December 5th the boycott took place on the bus route. There was a sign at a Montgomery bus stop that said, “People, don’t ride the bus today. Don’t ride it, for freedom.” And 90% of African Americans that typically rode the bus did what the boycott said and didn’t ride the bus for the day.

The leaders of NAACP in the Montgomery chapter had been looking for a case to fight with segregation. Parks was the perfect person for this; she was well-spoken and had a very solid reputation within the black community. Parks agreed to E.D. Nixon when he asked her if they could build a case around her arrest.

6

NATO symbol and the countries around it

NATO

In the late 1940s, the Soviet Union tightened the reigns on all of its satellite nations. In 1949 the United States, Canada, and 10 other nations in Western Europe came together to form NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). There weren't any countries from Eastern Europe; this was the start of the division of Europe. The United States had a prominent role in NATO; they provided money, military, and most importantly, leadership.

The making of NATO did not include the USSR, which pushed them to form their own group, the Warsaw Pact. They consisted of the USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. All of those countries were Eastern Europe nations, and a lot of the other (western) European countries were in NATO; Thus the division of Europe.

7

The drugstore that would not serve four blacks food that they ordered

Challenging Segregated Facilities

On February 1st, 1960, a few African American students sat at a dining table in Woodworth's Drugstore in Greesnboro. The waitress would not serve anyone who was not white. The teenagers stayed there until the store closed for the night. One of the students, Franklin McCain, said that the group felt they were not being treated with "dignity and respect". They returned to the same store and sat at the same place, but this tome they had 5 times more people. They were never served.

This continued for months. In April, 1960, the local African Americans decided to put out a boycott against Woodworth's and any other stores that would not serve them. The businesses eventually gave in. July 25, 1960, was the day the first African American was served at Woodworth’s lunch table. There was also a large sitin organization in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville became the first big city in the southern states to start integrating their public places.

8

James Meredith holds the newspaper that has an article about old miss not accepting his application

James Meredith

Public colleges were required to desegregate in 1961. Also in 1961, Meredith, a Korean War veteran, attempted to enroll in the University of Mississippi (also known as Ole Miss). The college was an all white school, but James wanted to take a stand against segregation. His application was denied.

James Meredith looked to NAACP to help him take his case to the courts when his application to the University of Mississippi was rejected. The court ruled against him at first, but later a higher court ruled that Ole Miss had to accept him. They still would not take him. The state then ruled Mississippi as a segregated state.

9

Meredith graduation from Ole Miss in 1963

On September 20, governer Barnett vowed that he would not see a black student enrolled in the University of Mississippi while he was in office. President Kennedy and General Robert Kennedy were determined to uphold the law. JFK was a supporter of the civil rights movement, even though he was worried about losing his support from the South. In a nationally broadcasted speech, Kennedy said, "Americans are free to disagree with the law but not to disobey it."

James Meredith walked on to campus, secretly, on September 30, 1962. When people found out about this, they went crazy. A giant riot began. Angry whites burned cars and destroyed things in their rage. They shot and killed to men. President Kennedy sent soldiers to protect James so he could go to school. He surviced the threats against him and his family's lives, but he had always know what was at stake.James Meredith graduated from the University of Mississippi in the summer of 1963.

10

Around the 50s and 60s the amount of children born spiked

Baby Boom

In the depression marriage rates and birth rates dropped. People stopped having children because the worried about money all the time. But after World War 2 ended that all changed. In 1964 there were almost 2.3 million marriages, an increase of more than 600,000 from the previous year. Everyone was getting married younger. In the 50s the average age to get married for women was 20 and for men was 22.

Everyone started having family’s young couples and older couples. A visitor from Britain said “that every young house wife is pregnant.” Because of everyone getting pregnant there was a baby boom. A baby boom is a large increase in the number of babies born in the proportion to the size of the population. At the peak of the baby boom in 1957 4.3 million births were recorded and the mothers kept getting younger and younger.

11

Babies of the baby booms going to school in crowded class rooms

Because of all the children the economy boosted. Maternity stores charged more for dippers because they were in such high demands. 11,000 babies were born a day in the 50s. When all the children got to school age schools were having a hard time finding a place for all the children. California opened about one school a week. Other schools had some school in the mornings and one in the afternoons. It was very common though to see two students at on desk.

12

Work Cited

Hart, Diane. History Alive! Pursuing American Ideals. Palo Alto, CA: Teachers Curriculum Institute, 2008. Print.

13